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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

quickly! to pop to shop when baby sleeping?

141 replies

Scheherezade · 03/02/2012 16:49

Shop is approx 200-300 yards from my house. I have to cross a road and that's it.

Baby is 4m, asleep in cot, not under a blanket so no suffocation risk....

Shop know I have a baby, am scared they'll judge me as bad mum!

OP posts:
mrsjay · 03/02/2012 17:11

i think what lydia said was the way to go if you are desperate for the thing you need then maybe ring the shop or watch for somebody going in stand on your path , I know we can do things in the house and not hear baby but going out is different imo .

Original poster
Scheherezade · 03/02/2012 17:11

That's a good idea, Lydia! I don't have change, but I'll remember that for future. It's a small village store.

OP posts:
SecretMinceRinser · 03/02/2012 17:11

YABU. A fire can rip through a house in minutes. You wouldn't hear your smoke alarm from the shop - even if it is just across the road. What is it you need that is so urgent you would consider leaving your baby at home?

winkle2 · 03/02/2012 17:13

YES! What if you got run over whilst crossing the road?

LydiaWickham · 03/02/2012 17:14

Village stores would do this for you. Do you have a cheque book? Can you pay by cheque (if need be, buy a bottle of wine as well to put it up to the minimum spend for them).

Alternatively, if it's that close, you don't need to put your DC in the snow suit, pick them up, wrap in blankets, walk fast before they can get cold.

CailinDana · 03/02/2012 17:14

I definitely would. But I suppose according to MN I'm a bad mother. I have to go about that far to empty my bin, which I know takes less time but still, I'm out of the house. A 4 mo can't jump out of the cot or anything, I'm not sure there's much risk really. Surely there's more risk in going to sleep at night? You're still in the house but you're not conscious.

Lotkinsgonecurly · 03/02/2012 17:15

Can you phone the local shop and ask one of the shop assistants or shop owners to drop something over to you? You could pay over the phone or next time you are in?

mrsjay · 03/02/2012 17:19

cailin nobody has said the OP was a bad mother just wouldnt adivise leaving her baby , TBH if anything happened to her baby which probably wouldnt she could get herself in trouble , leaving a child alone and an accident happens she could be prosecuted for neglect ,

MerryMarigold · 03/02/2012 17:20

I would pop out too. We're so worried about CERTAIN small things and not other, imo, big things...like teaching kids not to be greedy, or not pushing our kids too much, blah blah blah, things that lead to long term misery.

spiderlight · 03/02/2012 17:20

wem I had the same nightmare the other night - I was at a party and I sudden;y remembered that my 4-year-old was at home alone. I had to climb up a really slippery muddy slope to get to him and it kept getting steeper and steeper. Horrible.

CailinDana · 03/02/2012 17:22

Statistically the chances of a fire breaking out in the 4-5 minutes she's in the shop are so infinitesimally tiny that to worry about it is beyond bonkers. She might as well worry about a meteor hitting the house. Seriously.

FightsWithMonsters · 03/02/2012 17:24

I would, and have. My shop is a minute away.

You could drop down dead in your living room at any moment. Who knows? A four month old won't do themselves any harm in a cot.

FutureNannyOgg · 03/02/2012 17:25

You don't need to put him in a pramsuit, just bundle him up in plenty of blankets, stick a hat on him (carefully) job done.

mrsjay · 03/02/2012 17:25

you are right she could run to the shop come back and baby is still snoring however i dont think leaving a baby along is the thing to do , i am not over protective , in the least its just not something i would do , people dont even leave babies outside shops in prams anymore , as the think its unsafe

CailinDana · 03/02/2012 17:27

But I just don't understand why it's wrong. The baby is safe in the cot, the mum is away for 5 minutes max, what's the problem?

Hairynigel · 03/02/2012 17:28

I have left 19mo before for about 4 minutes but I would never do it again. Specially not if you have to cross a road

aliceinboots · 03/02/2012 17:29

I've left my 3 yr old (got a cold and grumpy) asleep and warm indoors whilst I collected DC from school. It is a 20 second walk to the school.

Joins queue to be flammed.

HippoPottyMouth · 03/02/2012 17:29

Yes i agree, CailinDana and others, that I don't think it's a big deal really.
Although I probably still would hesitate to do it. I always used to have showers when babies were asleep, and could certainly not hear or see them (or any engulfing fire) for 10 mins then.

CailinDana · 03/02/2012 17:30

I'm sure the OP knows how to cross a road. Again the likelihood of her being hit by a car during the day while sober in that 5 minute window is practically non existent. I don't get why people worry about such unlikely things.

CailinDana · 03/02/2012 17:31

The vast majority of baby deaths happen at night while the baby is asleep in their bed and the parents are asleep in theirs. Does that mean that we should never sleep at night?

awomenscorned · 03/02/2012 17:31

Nope don't do it. Fire? You could get ran over? NO

squeakytoy · 03/02/2012 17:32

There is more chance of winning the lottery than a house spontaneously combusting... fires rarely start by themselves, there is usually human error behind them, like a candle, a chip pan, a cigarette..

HippoPottyMouth · 03/02/2012 17:34

maybe the OP wants to buy a lottery ticket :)

squeakytoy · 03/02/2012 17:34

Those of you saying she could get run over... I am sure the OP would look before crossing in the road.. if she is in a small quiet village, it is unlikely that she will be mown down as long as she is careful. If she took the baby with her, then there is just as much chance that the baby would be mowed down with her... which is hardly a great alternative.

Aribura · 03/02/2012 17:35

"What if a fire started in the house"? People live like this? Hmm